To examine the association of objectively measured physical activity (PA) intensity levels and sedentary time with arterial stiffness in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with mild ...disease activity and to analyze whether participants meeting the international PA guidelines have lower arterial stiffness than those not meeting the PA guidelines.
The study comprised 47 women with SLE (average age 41.2 standard deviation 13.9) years, with clinical and treatment stability during the 6 months prior to the study. PA intensity levels and sedentary time were objectively measured with triaxial accelerometry. Arterial stiffness was assessed through pulse wave velocity, evaluated by Mobil-O-Graph® 24h pulse wave analysis monitor.
The average time in moderate to vigorous PA in bouts of ≥10 consecutive minutes was 135.1±151.8 minutes per week. There was no association of PA intensity levels and sedentary time with arterial stiffness, either in crude analyses or after adjusting for potential confounders. Participants who met the international PA guidelines did not show lower pulse wave velocity than those not meeting them (b = -0.169; 95% CI: -0.480 to 0.143; P = 0.280).
Our results suggest that PA intensity levels and sedentary time are not associated with arterial stiffness in patients with SLE. Further analyses revealed that patients with SLE meeting international PA guidelines did not present lower arterial stiffness than those not meeting the PA guidelines. Future prospective research is needed to better understand the association of PA and sedentary time with arterial stiffness in patients with SLE.
Background
The aim of this study was twofold: (i) to examine the association of cardiorespiratory fitness with arterial stiffness in women with systemic lupus erythematosus; (ii) to assess the ...potential interaction of cardiorespiratory fitness with age on arterial stiffness in this population.
Materials and methods
A total of 49 women with systemic lupus erythematosus (mean age 41.3 standard deviation 13.8 years) and clinical stability during the previous 6 months were included in the study. Arterial stiffness was assessed through pulse wave velocity (Mobil‐O‐Graph® 24 hours pulse wave velocity monitor). Cardiorespiratory fitness was estimated with the Siconolfi step test and the 6‐minute walk test.
Results
Cardiorespiratory fitness was inversely associated with pulse wave velocity in crude analyses (P < .05), although this relationship was attenuated when age and other cardiovascular risk factors were controlled. There was a cardiorespiratory fitness × age interaction effect on pulse wave velocity, regardless of the test used to estimate cardiorespiratory fitness (P < .001 for the Siconolfi step test; P = .005 for the 6‐minute walk test), indicating that higher cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with a lower increase in pulse wave velocity per each year increase in age.
Conclusions
The results of this study suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness might attenuate the age‐related arterial stiffening in women with systemic lupus erythematosus and might thus contribute to the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in this population. As the cross‐sectional design precludes establishing causal relationships, future clinical trials should confirm or contrast these findings.
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